Workable Encounters: God's Workbench Part 6

Getting ready for Gary Con IX suspended work for a couple of months. Don't fret, I am still here, still beating the proverbial dead horse. The encounter mechanics have been lying idle and picking them up last week, something bothered me about them. They were...clunky. First the Crypt Lord had to figure out how often to check for an encounter depending on circumstances and then roll for each interval to see if there was an actual encounter.  There had to a better way. Once again, I sat down with my dice and some graph paper…

I tried all kinds of crazy stuff to cram several random results into one die roll. It can be done, but you would have to go through some crazy mental gyrations and cut holes in cardboard. The trick was keeping things as simple as possible.

What I wanted was a standardized roll that had built into it both frequency and whether there was an encounter or not.  The dice should show this without having to look at any tables. Here is it is: Roll 3d8 at the start of each OTU (8 hours). If you roll either a pair or three of a kind, there is an encounter. The number rolled indicates the hour of the OTU it takes place. Further, if there is a greater chance of encounter, add one d8, (for a total of 4d8), which increases the odds dramatically.  If there is a much reduced chance, subtract a d8 (roll two d8). I wanted to easily mod this roll to take into account areas in which encounters were more or less likely.

In the design there were a couple of things I wanted to keep. First, the time interval. The outdoor movement time division is the OTU, or Overland Travel Unit which is 8 hours long. This will prove to be quite useful as the number of hours corresponds to a d8 roll and a day is logically broken up into 3 OTU. The second bit of infrastructure is a modular 24 row table and it's corresponding Thumbtrix.

In it’s simplest form the table is designed around a d12 and has two banks of 12 fields each, for a total of 24 slots. To use you roll a d6 "controller" and a d12 for the result. It is designed to be modular so it can be plugged into any game subsystem to generate results. You can generate either completely random or weighted results depending on the current need. I took the same the same 24 fields and rearranged them into a different format, or what I call a Thumbtrix. The Thumbtrix allows the user quickly generate multiple results without rolling any dice.

Example: I roll 3d8 at the beginning of an OTU and get a pair of 3's. This means there is an encounter and it's during the third hour. The card above is an overview/cheat sheet.

It so happens we are in the magical land of Pewlon, so I grab the encounter card for that region and roll a d6 and d12. The d6 is a "controller" and the result indicates the column (1-3 left or 1-12 and 4-6 right or 13-24). This is a pretty traditional way to roll a result off a table.

Using further tables I can determine other elements of the encounter. The blank cards allow me to easily customize for different terrains, towns and regions.

Here are the same tables (above) with the same information, but now in Thumbtrix format. The disc has 12 results, 1-6 twice (one set is "repeat" the other "consecutive").

The Thumbtrix are stacked and spun or rotated (usually under the table in a random manner). After spinning them around, line up the stack.

The number up on the disc tells you which result number to start on (there are 6 in each quadrant) and if you repeat or go consecutive. Notice that you get a lot of information all at once. In this instance I got "2" and "consecutive", so the first Thumbtrix starts at 2, the second at 3 and so on. Once you have these, they are totally reusable and great for urban encounters when you need stuff on the fly.

I usually have a few encounters generated beforehand. Here are notes for the one shown above. I treat the encounter as a kind of mini table top miniatures game. Some are elaborate, others not. The system allows for great flexibility. Having a bunch of key word elements jazzes things up. I have a simple method for determining which group in the encounter has the "Upper Hand", that group gets to control some of the set up.

So that's the encounter system, next time I'll show how I worked "Epic" encounters into it. These are the reoccurring narrative non player characters...

Clogs of Poop: God's Workbench Part 5

Igor, Mundo and Chum
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B4SbN-rtbAlgdzVodmZJeVpHcFU

I make images to create my fantasy world. Sadly the use of images in RPGs is oft reduced to the color-matched mountain landscape over the proverbial plastic-wrapped couch. It seems the default method of RPG design is the written word. Text is generated as a primary source and then an artist is rustled up to embellish the words as an afterthought. As a visually creative person this is backwards thinking. Many concepts start as images and are developed further in the same format, much like an artist’s sketchbook.

Don't be afraid to use images as a primary source. Draw your own, appropriate them, or create them in your head like Stephenie Meyer. She dreamed about a vampire glistening in the sun like diamonds which became Twilight. Tomb of Horrors would be a verbose monstrosity without images. Maze of the Blue Medusa uses images as a primary source material. Think about Da Vinci's* sketch books.

Grant Wood probably would have lived here.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B4SbN-rtbAlgMzgtNkJ3NmxRTVk

Let's talk about Doi. It’s just north of the Moot of Fooglie. I always imagined Doi as the world's most boring place. Much in my milieu is appropriated from our world. There was this girl I used to work who was not too bright and earned the moniker “The Duchess of Doi”. When I needed a name for this place of gently rolling fields, Doi immediately sprang to mind. Doi is not a great place to start an adventure, but to the north is Pewlon. Pewlon is home to everything magical, sparkly, rainbow colored, Zwinkies, grotto's and magic mushroom patches and so on. My players needed to get through Doi in order to reach Pewlon. So I sat down with pencil in hand and my sketchbook and started to think about this boring place. I started with a typical dwelling and imagined it to be a large communal homestead. It would be large enough for an extended family that worked the farm. I wanted the building to be a little bit more interesting, so I sketched it as a truncated mud silo with an angled roof and little triangular windows. This led to thoughts about harvesting machinery (which are common around here). What would be the equivalent in Doi? I try not to overthink it, so I sketched an enormous beast. This would become “the docile beasts of Doi”. I had created an non-player crypt opener from Doi called Hannah as an adventure hook. When it came time to write down the stuff on her equipment list one of the things she wore were traditional Doi clogs made out of hardened docile beast poop. This led to the idea of using excrement as a building material.  So, yes everyone’s house is clad in stucco made from poop. The “docile beasts of Doi”  became walking raw materials factories. Special millstones were implanted into one of their many stomachs.  Raw grain in, specially processed grain out. Individual farmsteads would be grouped together into Noobs. Each Noob was responsible for sending processed grain into a wind powered network of pipelines to be tran-shipped to other countries (like the Moot of Fooglie). I made various drawings of different grain types. I created a number of unique professions linked to the docile beasts of Doi. I got all of this from a few rough sketches. Doi went from nothing to a very odd form of interesting. All this stuff becomes essential fodder to create the player narrative of the campaign. I intentionally leave things open for further embellishment. The drawing is easy for players to digest.  And, because it’s a sketch, it’s not locked in. This is essential to further the narrative of the game.

The Magic never sleeps...
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B4SbN-rtbAlgTVBzVk9rQlkyV00

I knew right away after drawing the first sheet this would be a method to create the world. I made “Klogg Narr” and His companion “Gargo-Fu”, travelers of the Urth who publish a Traveler’s sketchbook. This could be given to the players one page at a time, getting them up to speed on Urth. Each sheet covers a specific region. As the Crypt Lord these become the starting point for the written part of each country’s mechanics, the encounter tables, culture, geographical features, and the intelligent denizens that live there. I do not treat it as a one-sided thing, as players react to these I incorporate things that they either do (in the game or out) into the design. This makes everything way more interesting and relatable to them. It also immediately makes them a part of the whole. Even if I am mocking them in the process.

Meet
Skeevwil Skrunchscroat
of the Moot of Fooglie
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B4SbN-rtbAlgeXExWGNPQ1RZSms

Next time...these things I call Thumbtrixes...

*Yes, I am putting my work in the same slot as Meyer and Vinci.

God's Workbench Part 4. Designing a New Encounter System (2 of 2).

In part 3,  we talked some theory and settled on movement rates for the Troupe. Time to unveil the remainder of the encounter subsystem. Oh joy!

I have a thing for dodecahedrons, so this new system would be built around them. (d12’s are used profusely in Crypts and Creepies, so it seemed natural). I wanted the players to be able to make some choices about how they would move overland. It boiled down to speed and visibility:

Thus, TSV = Troupe Speed & Visibility. TSV is made of two combined factors. When its time for an encounter check, roll a d12.  If the result is equal to or less than the TSV an encounter occurs.  At the moment I use “common sense” to assign the values to the adventure troupe, so a typical group is normal/normal, or 2 + 2 = TSV/4. If they are all ninjas and moving slowly, they are a TSV/2. If it’s a whole clan of Ruprecht wannabes running around yelling “Oklahoma, Oklahoma, Oklahoma”, then they are an TSV/8.    

How often do you check?  This way:

Land is the most common form of movement in the game.  I wanted encounters to seem random, so no bell curve, just a 1-20.  This way the numbers will be all over the place.  Remember, it’s a check to see if there is an encounter, not a bonafide encounter. On average, you will make a check every 10.5 miles traveled. A troupe with a TSV/4 will have 3 - 4 encounters every 100 miles traveled.  Ninjas (TSV/2) will have a 1 or 2, and the Ruprechts (TSV/8) about 8. For Air and Sea the checks are more infrequent. The logic is you are moving faster and there is just less to encounter. Resting or sleeping outside, basically warrants a check.

The object of the system is to be simple and make sense, so you can remember how to use it. I’ve used it a couple of times, it seems to work just fine.

Whooo. Encounter tables next up:

Early on in this series I talked about how I like to make forms. They are cheats really, just to get things going. They also help when you get stuck. They are not gospel. Here is my encounter worksheet. Since I made these for myself, not everything is explained, so here goes.  Top box is what/where it is. In this case, the land of Pewlon. When an encounter is indicated, a d12 is rolled to determine if the encounter is common, uncommon or special (the three blocks on the left). There are two ovals (x - x) on top for the for the range (remember, your rolling a d12). In this case I decided 1 - 9 is common, 10 - 11 is uncommon and 12 is special. Another d12 roll in that box pulls out the specific encounter. (Biodiversity, is really for city encounters).  To the right is a list of typical motives (some are weighted or more unique to certain areas) and are nudges to setting up encounters.  The bottom has a shorthand version of the encounter system. My system is set up with empty slots to slot in creepazoids as they are created.

This is a crib sheet of the details of encounter. The 8 ovals (on the far left of each encounter listing) are spots for the consecutive d20 rolls (movement on land).  For each I make a d12 check vs the troupe’s TSV. If a d12 result is equal to or less than the troupes TSV an encounter occurs and I circle that number and note the encounter particulars to the right. These crib sheets are great for sand boxes. I roll up a swath beforehand. It allows me to do more role playing when the crunchy bits are worked out beforehand.

Lastly there is this thing:

This stages the encounter based on the troupes TSV.  If you take the ninjas (TSV/2), you will be using the green 1 - 3 column. Because the ninja troupe will be moving stealthily and slowly,  a roll of 1 - 8 (out of 12) means they will be more in control of the encounter situation. This means spotting them first, picking the terrain for the encounter and so on. There is still a chance they can roll that 12 and basically "blunder" into the encounter just like the Ruprechts of the world. This really makes encounters much more dynamic.

For some encounters I need more details worked out, for these I have this baby:

(Its really just a piece of graph paper?) You will notice this one is set up like a miniatures game.  In this example the troupe was leaving Pewlon, but Iphy (Her Most Lofty Preponderant Zwink) had learned that the troupe had the phial of Tubor extract (one of the 3 ingredients for the poison antidote she so desperately needs). Her plan is first to ask “nicely” and if that fails bring out the velvet hammer. Because Pewlonians have a way of dealing with this, I gave it some thought and set things up. It doesn’t take much to lay it out. I learned the hard way that I am terrible of doing this kind of stuff on the fly.

This is my encounter toolbox. It’s still a little rough, but so far has worked very well.  Next time, designing countries.

God's Workbench Part 3: Designing a New Encounter System (1 of 2).

I needed a good method to generate random encounters. I am have been putting a lot of energy into this fantastic world, let's get it right. I tried to recall how it was done in D&D1e. I vaguely remember rolling a d6 a twice a day. If it was a 1, go to the appropriate terrain/monster table.  Here's what the DMG really says:

Use the upper unnamed table determine the level of civilization you're in. Next, consult the “Frequency Of Encounter Chance Time Checks” by cross indexing the time of day with the type of terrain you're in. (What’s the difference between plain and scrub?  What about forest and hills together?) If there's an X in the column you need to make a roll to see if there is an encounter. To make the actual check either roll a d20, d12 or d10 based on the level of civilization (from the unnamed table above). A result of “1” indicates there is an encounter. I will never stop loving my DMG for its unparalleled ability to be f***ing byzantine as possible (“FBAP”). Based on the scant space given for random outdoor encounters, they must have been considered ancillary to the game. (Interestingly however, while exploring underground in a dungeon, there are no rules on how to check for wandering monsters - no time interval or chance given of occurrence. I checked the player's handbook and the monster manual. Nothing. Pretty odd, given that there are pages and pages of tables in the DMG to generate random monster encounters based on the level underground.)

I have just burned up 45 minutes looking for information on 5E’s outdoor random encounter system. All I found were these 2 pages of number bashing that will supposedly help the DM to create balanced encounters. Really? Honestly, no one, except paid authors writing modules for D&D are going to use this. I bet they will even fudge the results. More searching only got me I people’s questions on forums about outdoor encounters and some clunky home brew systems...but nothing else. If you can’t find a popular game system’s core mechanic...that’s a problem. Enough D&D.

The focus of Crypts-N-Creepies is crypt bashing. Time spent traveling back and forth to the various enclaves of doom was seen as time wasted.  As belaboured in the rule book, “the main play of the game is opening crypts for inspection and removing swag product for economic reinsertion”. Traveling overland and having random encounters was purposely truncated to keep the “Proverbial Evening Of Gaming” from getting bogged down fighting randomly generated creepazoids. I opted for simplicity and created an abbreviated overland travel system which was intended to recreate the flavor of traveling. Well...things change and I have decided to take a step back, in order to go two steps forward. Movement rates overland are intertwined with encounters, so might as well rethink this as well.  Deep breath.

Here are two abstract theories of encounter systems.  Let’s call this first type the “Set Up” model.  It wants to be a close simulation of the real world.  Monster populations are located on the map beforehand.  As players explore and get closer to these fixed locations, the more likely they will encounter the monsters that live there.  So if the #1 on the map is a ruin where four Urk's are holed up, when you go there, bingo!  #8 is an abandoned temple complex and home to 53 Blue Boldies.  And so on. 

There are several big issues with this approach.  The biggest is that you, as creator, will never have enough energy to fill it.  Or the space to record it.  Or find what you need when you need it. It’s a lot of damn work, no getting around it.  Second, design it and I promise the players will avoid it.  Consciously or unconsciously.  Never fail.  The model represents a snapshot in time and doesn't take into account that creatures will be moving around visiting their aunts and so on.  Well, you could make tables for this…. But again more unnecessary complexity.

I call this second model the “On Demand” system. Areas of the map are defined with boundaries and within them random encounters are generated from a table. The table is made in such a way as to offer up typical encounters for that area. The areas size may range from hundreds of square miles to a single small hill. So, if a random encounter is called for in the Red Forest, the table for this zone is used to generate the random encounter. This model defines the world in broad strokes.  

The huge advantage with the “On Demand” model is the Crypt Lord can come up with generalizations to define areas, thus liberating him/her from having to design everything in excruciating detail. There is a level of abstraction with this, as things magically appear as you need them.  This flies in the face of realism that some players prefer, but it’s important to remember that RPG games are narrative based.  Besides, who needs more work to do?  One flaw of this model is that the encounters, because they must come from a generalised matrix can seem a little cookie cutter after a while.

A third issue, is both of these systems handle essentially only one facet of encounters, namely, how often to check, the chance of occurrence and what the monster is.  Neither of these models (or existing RPG encounter systems) help you with much anything else. What is the actual terrain?  What are the relative distances between you and the other parties?  Can one see other first and hide before being seen?  What if your group is super stealthy?  Or obnoxiously loud?  What about generating an encounter that is part of the game narrative?  Or an encounter type that is outside what is “typical” for the aera?  The game systems I have seen pretty much leave this up to you.  I don’t know about you, but I would like a little more structure to bounce off of. Here’s my wish list for the new encounter system design:

An encounter matrix with results that ranges from typical to special.

Status of the encountered creature, such as what it’s doing, mood, etc.

Take into effect what players are doing, how stealthy, loud and their speed traveling.

Provide some details of the physical setting of the encounter.

How encounter can be rolled into the current narrative.

Be easy to use (this one’s a killer).

It’s starting to take form.  Let’s refer to the players while traveling as a “Troupe”.  I find having an odd term like this helps in keeping things clear.  When you use the word “troupe” (unlike party, or level for that matter) everyone knows we are talking about a group of crypt openers moving overland.   So let’s go back to the overland travel rates.  I’ll need to make a table showing traveling speed based on a number of variables.  Notice that a troupe must choose to travel at one of three speeds, cautious, normal or hustling.  This is not an a new idea, but I was reminded of it because I’m playing Blucher (a hot new Napoleonics game).  In it units can move at different speeds (having different effects during play).  Lastly, I searched the web and found a good discussion on movement rates to use as a guide.  You can find it here:  

https://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?t=19730

Here is the first component of the new random encounter system, the overland movement table.  I know it looks a little complex.  It’s not bad and you only need it once.  Basically the troupe will move the speed of its slowest member.  The races are on the left.  Let’s say we have a troupe of 3 Humes and a Welf.  Welfs are faster, but the Humes will slow him/her down.  Looking at Humes we have three speed choices, slow, normal and hustling.  In general, moving slow means you are searching or encumbered, normal is what usually takes place, and hustling is at a fast trot which will sacrifice noticing things and so on.  These speeds will factor into how the encounters work, later on.  It also gives the players some control over how thier encounters can turn out.  There is a second part to this table, astute readers will have noticed that movement rates mounted and employing veyances are not shown.  I’ll finish up random encounters in the next part.

BTW, this will be incorporated into the newest edition of the popular Crypts-N-Creepies rule book. 

God's Workbench Part 2: The Great White Space

You are a mighty wizard.  Every few weeks your buds Elric, Eowyn, Belit and Tim the Enchanter show up to spend a few hours drinking off-brand soda and shoot the poop in your dungeon.  As host it is your pleasure to keep them thoroughly entertained.  Because once the Funyuns run out there's no telling what sort of craziness they will do this time.

Exciting and terrifying.  It's what every Crypt Lord experiences at the start of every game.  Welcome to The Great White Space.

It's less stress if the players are crypt bashing.  RPG rules are specifically designed to facilitate play in these well-defined spaces. However, once all the chambers have been mapped, the denizens dispatched and the last bit of swag liberated, they will clamber back to the surface.  Onward to a new adventure?  Go back to town and spend a few coins?   Or, “Oh look, that’s shiny..., how about we go that way”?  No matter, the players have just left the most defined part of the game. Now your work becomes trickier.

The Big Arrow is the overall game Narrative as it moves through time. Breaks in the arrow are individual game sessions.  Question Marks are possibilities that could be, but have not been acted on. Dotted lines show possibilities that have been acted on.  The table icons represent Gameable Action.

This is a scheme to visualize the Great White Space.  Penciling it out allowed me to pull an RPG’s session mechanics apart.  Here is what I came up with.  First, I discovered there are two basic types of game activity during a session: Narrative and Gameable Action. Narrative is represented by the big arrow, question marks and dashed lines. Gameable Action is represented by the table icons.  A lot has been written individually about both, but not on how they can inform the Crypt Lord to better design adventures.

Let’s address the Narrative in terms of design and preparation. In all my years of creating adventures I never used that term, instead I thought of it as the “logic” of the adventure.  Once I made and understood this logic everything else fell into place.  It’s the first broad stroke on the blank canvas.  Following marks are made in relation to the ones before.  Nailing down the logic also allowed me to wing things that were unaccounted for in my design in a consistent way. Without consistency the players will feel they have no control.

Let’s talk about designing for Gameable Action.  Gameable Action is the part of the game when miniatures get put on the table and play is being resolved in Na-nutas, by casting magic, chopping off bits of flesh and moving in units measured in feet.   Gameable Action are the specific keyed areas, encounters, creepie stats and anything that affects the persons in a detailed way.  A town map of Aarn definitely is needed  for this. A key of the guard barracks. The list of notable laws.  And so on.

I’ll illustrate by way of example:

(Narrative)

The players enter the village of Aarn.  Walking down the lane they see signs of prosperity.  Everyone has a smile on their face and a spring in their step.  The fountain features a huge gem held aloft on magical streams of water.  Here's what the players don't know. Aarn has a terrible secret (duh).  Two miles away, hidden in the side of the mountain is Zlak, its sister village.   Those who break the law of Aarn are sent to the Zlak (yes, a forced labor camp). The people of Aarn figured out that the more crazy the laws were, the more free labor they had to tap.  Hence, Aarn’s prosperity. This is the overall logic and the big Narrative piece that drives this setting.  As a Crypt Lord once this part has been decided on, you can build the smaller bits.  They may be directly related to the big overall logic, completely random or anywhere in between.These will jotted down as notes.  So:  The current elder’s son broke a law and was forced to work in Zlak.  It turns out the son actually didn’t break the law,  he took the fall willingly for his mom.  Another: There is a witch hiding in a chicken coop. She’s particularly good at this, because she can transform into a chicken. And so on.  Usually,  these are called “plot hooks”. These smaller ones are bits of drama that may be acted upon.  If they are, then you can flesh out details as you go along.  If they don’t bite on one of these you haven't spent too much energy on it, so it’s not a waste.  Think of it as planting little seeds that may or may not grow.  The smaller ones are no less important, these are the proverbial “wrench” that the players often use to effect the big Narrative.  How they do this is where the big fun of the game often lives.

So far, players have been wandering around, asking questions, looking at stuff and interacting with the locals.  As the Crypt Lord, understanding the logic of this place allows you the luxury of not having to write down every freaking detail.  As you describe things, it will be in the context of this Logic.

(Gameable Action)

Boram, (one of the players), has worked the hinges of the chicken coop door off.  Something about one of the chickens just isn’t right (she used her skill Gut Feeling, pg 33).  Breaking and entering definitely breaks one Aarn’s many, many laws.  As Crypt Lord, I knew to design this adventure that I would need detailed descriptions of the police forces of Aarn.  The players know it’s a set up, that I’ll be keeping a close eye to see if someone in Aarn can catch them breaking a law.  Indeed, this is part of the fun. So I have my non-player personas ready in the wings.  I made a generic stat block descriptor for the common gaurd types and three progressively more powerful NCO’s.  I have a map of the town, where guards are typically stationed and some ways to randomly generate reinforcements and so on.  I am basically ready.  So the door is off the coop, a guard has been shadowing them and blows a whistle. I say “Boram is right here (I point on the mat), the rest of you put your selves down on the map”.  Just like that the session has switched from Narrative to Gameable Action.  Players who were daydreaming suddenly are paying attention.  In the coop or out? Now it matters.  Once we start the ground rules for the action get set. There will be a defined number of guards and the terrain is fixed. A weapon that is being sharpened is not available.  This part of the game session is most like the traditional definition of game. It has turns, players move game pieces with defined attributes, pieces that have their PHP reduced to zero die.

When the battle ends, typically the session swings back to Narrative mode.  Then something happens and Gameable Action is triggered.  As the Crypt Lord, understanding Narrative and Gameable Action informs you on how best to prepare for Great White Space.  

A note on terms used in this post.  Crypt Lord is what the GM is called in Crypts-N-Creepies.  Player Persona’s liberate Swag from Crypts for economic reinsertion.  I went back and forth on whether to use generic terminology, but decided that since I play C-N-C, I’d use the terms native to it.  This may rub some of you the wrong way.  If so send me a note and I’ll put in front of the committee.  

A new encounter system next time.

P 33 of the C-N-C rule book for sticklers

Elric of M. inspecting a "Funyun"

God's Workbench Part 1: Tricking Yourself

I really want to have the coolest Fantasy game world ever. It’s that simple.

For many years Crypts-N-Creepies* has been focused on crypt bashing. Traveling overland and having random encounters was viewed as a waste. Over time however, the game has evolved beyond just sacking the proverbial enclave of Doom.  As a game designer this has become a new challenge to work out.  I'll be starting from scratch, if you don't count all the baggage I've accumulated playing games for several decades.   The current rule set assumes that the spots between adventures will be edited down to the barest essentials so that the players (who have limited time) can get to the meaty, juicy crypt adventuring part of the game.  Since I am building new encounter systems up, I thought it would be helpful to share my thoughts in a series of articles I'm going to call God's Workbench.

The plan is to talk both in theory and practicalities enabling the reader to more easily fashion their own unique fantasy setting based on my experiences.  Here are several observations:

1) The task is overwhelming. Where do you start?  A town? The gods? Legends? Weather? Names for stuff? Countries? Is the tech level different than what is assumed in your core game mechanic? Thinking about it all at once will drive you mad.

2) Players are unpredictable. In real life people take the path of least resistance.  In RPGs they take the path least prepared. This happened to me last week.  I spent a lot of energy preparing multiple options and even more energy on the shiniest one.  What did those cute little swine players do? They latched onto an ad-libbed bit of random backstory I made up to rationalize the appearance of a new player. They literally turned around from the proverbial pie cooling on the window sill to lock themselves into a closet to engage in human trafficking (it’s a long story).  I am not complaining (well not much).  As frustrating as it can be, I still hold to that allowing them complete freedom is worth it. Frustrating, sometimes, but still monolithically important. Besides, what fun would it be for me if I knew what they are going to do?  This leads to...

3) You can't make everything.  Yes, even the Godlike beings known as gamemaster/mistress have this one limitation.  If you want the troupe to be able to make meaningful choices, how do you design economically to accomplish this?

The first problem is this damn blank page.  To conquer it, we must allow ourselves to be tricked.  The vast sea of white void will swallow you up.  The void...the big vast nothing, it’s just too big.  Take this emptiness and fill it with one idea at a time. Break down the process into nuggets.  Defined little bits.

This is how I trick myself.  I make dumb templates.  They are hand drawn and photocopied at first, then done up on the compy when I get a better feel for them.  For example, I need rough overviews of each country and region of my campain.  I drew out the one on the left first and made areas (much like a character sheet) for things that need to be described, such as the area’s symbol, a list of cities and government, the weather  and so on.  You don’t want to be obsessing over the infrastructure, you need to just stop overthinking it and get stuff on paper. Everything doesn’t need to exactly right, you just need to get started.  It’s funny how this one thing will get it all going.

We have a way to start generating bits, now we need some form of organisation.  Creating a fantasy world means there is going to be a lots of scraps of data.  If you throw it all into one big pile, they will be useless if you can’t find it.

This is the method that works for me.  I have a bunch of blank folders, a big Sharpie and a bankers box.  Folders represent discrete topics ranging from adventures, countries, NPC’s, monsters, magic ideas and so on.  I use loose sheets of paper (I haven't had luck with sketchbooks). I can put one idea on a sheet and move it around so it’s where I can find it.  Right now it is still easier for me to do things non-electronically, but eventually this may change.  I have a pipeline of sorts, where I have prioritised working on certain aspects of the milieu.  It’s easy to grab that folder and work on what’s needed and the loose sheets allow a lot of flexibility.  And ideas don’t get lost.  It isn’t very glamorous, but has been a great tool to get this giant wheel turning.  It works, my world has become a reality.

More will follow.  Comments, of course, are welcome (unless you're that gal with the ecru hat).  I have a lot to talk about.

*Most of you do not play Crypts-N-Creepies.  This should not matter, these tools will be useful for any world that needs creating.